President Barack Obama cancelled what would have been his first meeting with Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, after Mr. Duterte described Mr. Obama in vulgar terms, a White House spokesman said on Tuesday. Mr. Obama learned about the insult as he emerged from the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, China. The White House had said Mr. Obama did not plan to pull any punches on his concerns about human rights abuses in the Philippines, its treaty ally, when meeting Mr. Duterte. Mr. Duterte said it would be “rude” for Mr. Obama to raise the human rights issue, and told reporters such a conversation would prompt him to curse at him. China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually.

Source: The Hindu September 06, 2016 02:26 UTC